


Hanna City

by goldenroses13



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Dirty Dreams, Eventual Sex, Fake Relationship, Force Healing, Force-Sensitive Finn, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, Misunderstandings, Multi, Pining, Politics, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Reunions, That’s Not How the Force Works, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-02-12
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22349338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenroses13/pseuds/goldenroses13
Summary: The war is over. Poe leaves for Hanna City with the rest of the Resistance, where the real work will begin. Finn, searching for his place in the new world, stays with Rey to help resurrect Luke’s fallen Jedi Order.A year later, Finn and Rey receive an invitation to attend Poe and Zorii’s engagement party. But their relationship isn’t what it seems, and words unsaid and a threat on Poe’s life put a damper on the celebrations.Eventual Finn/Poe.
Relationships: Finn & Jannah (Star Wars), Finn & Rey (Star Wars), Finn & Rose Tico, Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Zorii Bliss & Poe Dameron
Comments: 31
Kudos: 92





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, I couldn’t stay away from this fandom or this pairing for too long. This first installment is just to set the stage for future chapters — right now, we’re looking at about 7 or so chapters. 
> 
> You can also follow me on tumblr: goldenroses13.tumblr.com if you want to chat further, ask questions, or just say hi. (I'm just getting started, so it'll look a little empty.)
> 
> Enjoy!

** PROLOGUE **

The road to victory was slow.

It’s the aftermath that hits them all at once. 

They remain on Ajan Kloss for three months after Exegol. The first month is nothing but a blur to Finn. A blur of meetings on top of meetings and then — surprise, surprise — more meetings, but with different people of varying levels of importance. Allies who waited until the eleventh hour, First Order deserters looking for redemption and a place in the new world. The list truly runs the gamut.

And then there are debriefs on those meetings.

He rises before the sun and sleeps whenever he gets the chance. There are days he forgets to eat until he’s nauseous and his head is spinning. In some ways, the grind that follows their victory takes more out of him than the actual fight. 

He mentions that to Poe one night while they’re sharing a rare dinner together. Poe laughs but he agrees, says that he’s far more comfortable calling the shots from a cockpit than shaking hands with foreign diplomats and negotiating terms and trade routes with former First Order-aligned planets. 

But he’s good at it. Finn supposes that’s Poe’s curse — he may be hotheaded and difficult and too daring for his own good, but he’s a natural leader and just as captivating out of an X-wing as he is in one. 

For Finn, it’s different. He’s younger, for one, but he also didn’t grow up learning or even knowing much about the ins and outs of politics — just whatever propaganda programs the First Order force-fed him. He feels like a fish out of water. Poe notices — because of course he does — and fills in the blanks when he can.

Still, it’s draining and, to a point, demoralizing. So when Rey returns to Ajan Kloss, grinning ear-to-ear with a collection of Luke’s journals in her pack and begging for his help, he doesn’t need much convincing. 

It’s the second month after Exegol and reading through the journals is a welcome reprieve, even though they don’t tell them much other than an undetermined number of Luke’s students from the resurrected Jedi Order survived Kylo Ren’s massacre. Luke didn’t seem to know where they went or how to find them, or if he did, he did not make it clear in his writings. 

It’s like a mystery program, but without all the clues.

Both Poe and Rey know he’s Force-sensitive now, and Poe doesn’t really ask questions. But, to his credit, he does take a mild interest in their “project,” as he refers to it — and because he doesn’t have a lot of resources to dedicate to it, he excuses Finn from some of his duties to allow him more time to work through the texts.

“I know this stuff is important to you two,” he says when Finn apologizes for the distraction. “Don’t put it on the backburner, buddy.” 

When leads from the journals dry up Rey grows restless. Within the week, there’s a small training course waiting for him deep in the jungles of Ajan Kloss.

He comes back to camp sweaty and bruised and aching each evening, but there’s a new, thrilling energy coursing through his veins when he lies down to sleep. Poe has all but relieved him of his duties and in turn appears more exhausted than ever, but if he resents Finn for stepping back, he doesn’t show it. Zorii has stepped up, he says, becoming a leader in her own right and offering a fresh perspective they didn’t even know they needed. 

At the end of month three, the Resistance votes to relocate to Hanna City, the old home of the Galactic Senate. There’s infrastructure in place there, for one — not just tents in a jungle. They can have homes, real ones, with proper kitchens and refreshers. Bedrooms with real beds. Connix tells him the weather there is beautiful and mild, the opposite of Ajan Kloss’s suffocating humidity. It sounds like a dream.

Just not his dream.

“You’re not coming,” Poe says when he has finished the last of his packing. Everything he owns fits in two bags — it doesn’t take long.

“No,” Finn confirms. “Rey and I still have work to do.”

“Work that can’t be done in Hanna City?” Poe presses. But he grins. Knows there’s no convincing Rey when she has her mind set on something. 

“She likes it here,” Finn shrugs. “We have the training courses, it’s discreet, isolated…and Poe, I think if we can find those students — Luke’s? This could be where it all starts again.”

“I’m going to miss you.” Poe pulls him into a hug, hooking his chin over Finn’s shoulder. “We could’ve had a house together, you know. Nothing fancy. Just a little place to call our own.”

Finn laughs into his hair and pulls back. Poe is laughing too, but his eyes are twinkling.

“I’m going to miss you, too. But if I don’t stay here and at least give it a shot? This whole…Jedi situation?” he says for lack of better phrasing, waving his hand. “I think I’ll regret it.”

“You will.” Poe squeezes his shoulder. “This is what we fought for, you know? The freedom to choose your own path, whatever that is. And besides, I want you to be happy. You deserve that.”

Finn’s chest tightens and, not for the first time, he wonders if this is the right choice. When he thinks back on all they’ve been through it’s hard to imagine being apart from Poe — but he also knows it’s time to find out who he is outside of the Resistance. And for now, at least, the Resistance is going somewhere he can’t follow.

“This isn’t really goodbye,” Finn says. “I’ll come visit you.”

Poe slaps him on the shoulder. “You better!”

But days turn into weeks and weeks turn into months, which inevitably become a year. A year of good intentions and canceled plans, missed calls and scheduling conflicts.

And a year of disappointments on his end. Delayed training, Rey zipping off in the middle of the night to follow a lead. It’s nothing like he envisioned when he decided to stay behind with her. But she tells him to be patient, to trust her. So he is, and he does.

For all the times she snapped at Poe for damaging the Falcon, Rey is truly no better when it comes to finding herself in harrowing situations. Finn is working on switching out a busted control panel when he sees a message blinking on the comm system. His pulse quickens — he doesn’t remember the last time he heard from Poe.

The hologram leaps up before his eyes. A beautiful piece of stationery with thin, wispy lettering. 

_ Poe Dameron & Zorii Bliss  _

_ request the honor of your presence  _

_ at the celebration of their engagement _

_ Hanna City Opera House _

_ Month 3 Day 13 37 ABY _

_ 18:00 _


	2. REUNION

“Why do you think he didn’t tell us?” Finn asks from the main hold’s entryway.

Rey looks up. She’s sitting crosslegged on the Falcon’s lounge seats, hunched over Luke’s journals, rereading them for what seems like the hundredth time.

She cocks an eyebrow.

“Sorry?”

Finn turns his data pad around to face her, the copy of Poe and Zorii’s invitation pulled up on the screen.

Rey points at the data pad.

“He did tell us,” she says unhelpfully.

Finn groans and swipes the invitation away with a little more force than necessary. He falls into a seat across from Rey.“In an invitation sent to some massive mailing list. It’s just weird. I think it’s weird. You don’t think it’s weird?”

“I think,” Rey says, pointedly closing the journal and leaning back in her seat, “that reading and rereading that invitation isn’t going to give you any answers.”

Finn nearly laughs. He could say the exact same thing about Rey with Luke’s journals. He’d given up on them months ago, when it felt like they’d milked them for all they were worth. But Rey still has some hope left in her — she has enough of it to make Finn feel inadequate at times. He is resilient and determined by nature, but Rey puts him to shame.

“You’re not going to know the full story until you can ask him yourself,” Rey continues off of Finn’s silence. And then, after a beat, “but for whatever it’s worth, I agree with you. It’s odd.”

Finn waves at the journals, suddenly eager to change the subject. “Anything new?”

“Just one thing,” Rey says, taking one of the books off the top of the stack and flipping it open to a page she’s bookmarked with a small ribbon. Written journals felt so primitive and strange to Finn. It’s part of the reason he was drawn to them in the first place — they were a mystery that needed to be unraveled. Rey smoothes out the pages and points at a passage. “One of the younger students? Sarph? Luke says here that Zys is her home planet. I’d never heard of it so I looked it up in our maps. It wouldn’t even be a day’s trip from Chandrila.”

“Sarph?” Finn echoes doubtfully. “Does Luke mention her name with any of the other survivors? Or as one of the students Ren took with him when he fled?”

“No,” Rey admits, deflating slightly. “There’s nothing in here that clarifies any of that. But right now it’s all we have to go off of.”

“So you’re saying that you’re going to ditch Poe and Zorii’s engagement party to hunt down someone who might be on a nearby planet but might also be dead,” Finn says, and regrets his tone immediately. He’s tired, and he’s not being fair.

“No,” Rey says, wasting no time in correcting him. “What I’m saying is, considering we’ve extended our visit to a week, there might be time to visit Zys and see if there are any more leads buried there. That’s all.”

Finn starts to apologize but is interrupted when a light on the tech station flashes. Rey pushes the journals aside, climbing to her feet.

“We’re nearing Chandrila’s orbit,” she says. She pauses in the doorway to the main corridor and turns around. Finn feels whatever tension was between them vanish. They’ve been together long enough now to know when a disagreement has no heat behind it. “Want to see the city?”

Finn joins Rey in the cockpit as they begin their descent. Hanna City is surrounded by emerald green hills, with tall skyscrapers jutting out among the smaller, historic structures and urban blocks. There are even a few waterways and canals snaking their way through the city’s center. Finn is shocked by just how much green there is, a perfect blend of nature and city.

Next to him, Rey is smiling.

“It’s beautiful here,” she says as she works on the navicomputer to map a route to the starport, distracted for a moment as they pass by a particularly tall building shaped like an oblong egg.

Finn catches the transmission light flashing green out of the corner of his eye and, in a moment of panic, wonders how long traffic control has been trying to reach them. He knows the Falcon is one of the more recognizable ships in the galaxy, especially in Resistance territory, but still. It has been a year. He reaches over and flips the switch.

An unfamiliar male voice fills the cockpit. “YT-1300 freighter, identify yourself and your purpose in Hanna City.”

Finn and Rey look at each other. Somehow, ‘Poe Dameron’s engagement party’ doesn’t feel like the correct response.

“This is Finn and Rey,” Finn tries.

“Full names.”

Rey cringes. “Um-”

“I’ve got this one,” a new voice cuts in. A few muttered words are exchanged and then, clearer: “Sorry, but I’ve got to pull rank on you. Please disengage.”

“Rose?” Finn grins.

“Sorry about that. New guy,” Rose says as soon as the other transmission drops. “Finn? Is that really you?”

“Rey is with me, too,” Finn says, barely containing his excitement. “Rose. It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“You’re cleared to land,” Rose says. He can almost see her smiling. “We’ll see you at the starport.”

They dock the Falcon at the top of one of the skyscrapers and several service droids roll onboard, greeting them and gathering their bags. It’s odd to be waited on, but Finn allows it, following Rey down to the landing pad. From here, he can see that Hanna City is surrounded by hills on three sides and a blue-gray sea to the west.

When they step onto the platform, Poe and Zorii are there. They’re flanked by Rose and Jannah. Chewie, R2, and BB-8 are waiting with them.

It’s all Finn can do not to cry. He glances at Rey, standing next to him, and sees her face is tense and trembling. Poe is cleanshaven and almost looks younger because of it. He’s dressed in a rich brown jacket with billowy sleeves that reaches his knees. Zorii is at his side in a deep blue pantsuit with a jagged, asymmetrical neckline. Her hair has grown out, but one side is shaved with a braid traveling from the top of her head to the nape of her neck. Jannah and Rose are both dressed in the earth tones more reminiscent of their wartime days — they’re just considerably less dirty. Their hair is tied up in identical, prim buns.

BB-8 surges toward them first and Rey immediately drops to her knees, embracing the droid. Poe starts to step toward Finn but Rose and Jannah grab him first, squeezing so tight he can hardly breathe. Finn hugs them back and catches Poe’s eye over the tops of their heads. He grins at him and shrugs.

“He looks lovely,” Rey says when Poe makes his way over to her instead. She taps the top of BB-8’s antennae and stands upright, hands on her hips. “I see you’ve been taking care of him.”

“Better than you ever did,” Poe teases.

Rey’s eyes flash playfully and for a moment Finn thinks she has a comeback. But then she softens and all but leaps into Poe’s arms. Chewie growls, jealous, and steps up behind Rey. He wraps two long arms around her, crushing her between his body and Poe’s.

Jannah, still pressed against Finn’s chest, tugs at his vest. “We were expecting to see the two of you in those dreadful Jedi robes.”

“You could pull them off,” Rose says, tucked under Finn’s other arm. She squeezes him again. “I missed you. We all did.”

Zorii, quiet until now, steps up next to Jannah and places a hand on her shoulder. Shara Bey’s silver wedding band flashes on her finger and Finn feels a knot he didn’t know was in his stomach tighten.

“I’m so glad you both could make it,” Zorii says. Helmet and bodysuit aside, she’s so different from the first time they met. There’s a level of calm and quiet dignity he never quite expected from her before. She presses her hand against his and squeezes in lieu of a hug.

“Congratulations,” Finn manages, detaching himself from Jannah and Rose. It’s not that he’s _not_ happy for them. He thinks he could be. He likes Zorii and he loves Poe. It shouldn’t be this hard.

His eyes drift over to where Rey and Poe are standing together, engrossed in conversation, BB-8 and R2 chirping happily at their feet.

“I know how much he’s missed you,” Zorii says, her own eyes falling on her fiancé. She nudges Finn with her shoulder. “Go say hi.”

Finn nods and smoothes out his wrinkled vest and shirt, suddenly more nervous than he has any right to be considering the company he’s with. He joins Rey and Poe, touching the back of Poe’s elbow and smiling almost shyly when he turns around.

Poe’s eyes light up. And then he’s dragging Finn into a hug and burying his face into his shoulder. For a moment, It’s like they’re the only ones on that landing platform.

“Hey, buddy,” Poe murmurs into Finn’s neck.

“Hey,” Finn echoes, squeezing him a little tighter before pulling back to get a better look at his friend. “You look great.”

And he does. But he also looks different. Finn can’t pinpoint what it is aside from the obvious absence of facial hair and rather fashionable choice in attire. Maybe Poe’s just sleeping more.

“You, too,” Poe says. “Both of you. I know you guys must be tired from the journey over.”

“Shall I show them to their rooms, Master Poe?” one of the protocol droids asks politely, appearing over Rey’s shoulder.

Poe waves his hand, dismissing the droid. “I’ll take them there.”

Chewie wails at Poe and wraps his arms around Finn, nearly knocking him off his feet.

Poe smiles. His eyes are shining. “After we’ve all said our hellos, of course.”

* * *

From the inside, the starport is like nothing Finn has ever seen.

High ceilings and crystal chandeliers. Marble everywhere. It feels more like a palace than an old government building. They walk down an intricate staircase with gold railing and into a pristine, brightly lit lobby where Poe picks up two key passes from an attendant.

“Some of the amenities are shared, but you’ll have your own refreshers and private entrances,” Poe explains as they take a turbolift to one of the top floors. “The layout’s a bit off. The hotel space was converted from some old starport offices when the New Republic set up shop. It was easier for visiting politicians and their crews. They could just dock their ships and go straight to their rooms.”

The turbolift opens with a ping and Poe steps out into the corridor, frowning. He looks between the two of them.

“I didn’t ask, but I assumed you want separate rooms?”

“You assumed correctly,” Rey says at the same time Finn blurts out a “yes!”

Poe grins and holds up his hands, on the defense. “Okay, okay. A lot can change in a year. That’s why I asked.”

Rey’s eyes nearly roll into the back of her head and Finn bites into his bottom lip to keep from laughing.

“We were going to host you,” Poe says, leading them down to the end of the hallway. “Our place is just a couple blocks down the road. But Zorii insisted you’d both want your own space for the week. Otherwise, we’d all be living on top of each other.”

They stop outside a set of double doors. Poe presses one of the passes against a card reader.

“Oh, also — Connix is having a dinner party tonight. No pressure — you just got in — but if you’re feeling up for it, it might be nice to have the gang all together again.”

Rey smiles and nudges Finn with her elbow. “Sounds like fun.”

“Yeah,” Finn agrees with a tight smile, trying to push away the nagging feeling that he’s in store for a week of obligatory gatherings where he’ll have to compete for Poe’s time.

Rey’s room is bright and white with sheer curtains surrounding the large bed. Her bags have already been neatly placed by the footboard and there’s a bay window looking west toward the sea. Poe leads them through another door on the far side of the room that takes them into a kitchen and living space with a small office nook, then through another door. That door leads them into Finn’s room, which mirrors Rey’s in soft grays instead of white.

Finn goes straight for the bed and falls backward onto the mattress, earning a laugh from Poe and Rey. He runs his hands over the thick duvet — it’s silky smooth under his fingertips. This will be a nice change of pace after all those nights spent in tents or, during the more humid and sticky nights, the Falcon’s bunks.

“I’ll leave you both to it, then,” Poe says, placing their key passes on the nightstand. “I’ll send you the details for Connix’s party tonight and the itinerary for the rest of the week.”

Finn sits upright and tries to think of something to say, but no words come out. Poe gives them a little bow and steps back out into the hallway.

Rey and Finn both look at each other.

“This isn’t how I thought it would be,” Finn admits. “It’s been a year. Not ten.”

“What did you feel?” Rey asks, joining him on the bed. She slips off her boots and pulls her legs under her. “When we were with him— what did you feel?”

Finn closes his eyes and thinks back to their reunion on the top of the starport, and how it felt as they walked through the hotel’s winding hallways. “There’s something weighing on him. He missed us, but he was nervous about seeing us again.”

Rey nods, placing a comforting hand on Finn’s knee. “I felt it, too. But try and give it a day or two. He’ll open up.”

* * *

Rey disappears into her half of the suite to unpack while Finn takes advantage of his shower. It’s much larger and there are far more jet settings than the one he’s grown accustomed to on the Falcon. He’s lost track of time spraying various colognes and sniffing an assortment of scented lotions when there’s a knock at his door.

“Just a moment!” he calls out, toweling off and throwing on one of the robes hanging in the wardrobe, startled for a moment by how smooth the fabric is against his freshly exfoliated skin. Either Poe is very early or Finn has spent far longer than he thought admiring the products in the refresher.

But when he throws open the door C-3PO stands before him, looking concerned as ever.

“Threepio!” Finn says, throwing his arms around the droid and pulling him into a hug. Threepio pats his shoulder stiffly.

“It’s a pleasure to see you again, sir! Master Poe suggested you might enjoy a friendly face, given your unfamiliarity with the city, and I could not have agreed more. He did, however, say I was to stay only under the condition you were not fatigued from your travels.”

“You can stay,” Finn smiles, ushering Threepio inside and closing the door behind him. He never thought he’d be this happy to see the old droid again. Finn drops into one of the chairs, leaning forward, grinning. “Has Poe been treating you well?”

“One might assume that the end of a war, the return of the Republic, and the promise of a joyful marriage might have subdued Master Poe. But I am afraid, at times, he is as stubborn as ever.”

Finn laughs. And then presses a little further, because he can’t help it. “But he’s happy, at least? Right?”

The lights behind Threepio’s eyes flicker. He’s silent for a moment. But then he huffs, as if offended by the question.

“I don’t think he would appreciate me speculating on his mental state,” Threepio says, and then, before Finn can get another word in —“But sir, may I ask, have you done much research on Chandrila? I think you will find its history quite fascinating!”

Finn has done some, but he lets Threepio rattle on about the agriculture industry, comparatively low population, and historic cantinas anyway. But he’s caught off-guard when Threepio brings up the Liberation Day attacks in Hanna City, citing them as the primary reason the New Republic decided to rotate the new capital between member worlds.

“I thought that had always been part of the plan,” Finn says. “They wanted the other planets to feel like they could play a part, so they left the location of the capital city up to popular vote.”

“That was part of the official reasoning, yes,” Threepio confirms. “But fear drove that decision more than anything else. It is harder to plan an attack on a capital that rotates with every election cycle, after all. But let’s move on to happier topics! Did you have a chance to review the itinerary Master Poe sent you?”

Finn frowns and grabs his backpack, pulling out his data pad and swiping through the top notification. Sure enough, there’s a comprehensive schedule for the week, starting with a formal brunch in the late morning. The engagement party itself is in the evening at the city opera house.

Finn rubs a hand over his face.

“None of this feels like the Resistance. Or Poe,” Finn says, staring down at his schedule. It feels good to say it to someone other than Rey.

“Compromises must be made to set an example,” Threepio says diplomatically. “The Resistance is not at war now. They’re leading. The same can be said for Master Poe. As you know he is poised to become First Senator as soon as the title is sanctioned.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Given he receives the votes, of course! This is a democracy, thank goodness!”

“No, I mean — First Senator?” Finn shakes his head. “I’ve heard nothing about that.”

“Oh, dear,” Threepio says. “It’s not a secret, but perhaps I’ve said too much anyway.”

Finn rubs his temples, his mind racing. He tries to think back on all the HoloNet News transmissions he watched just to keep up with news from the Resistance. He’s certain he’s never heard the title First Senator before.

“It’s okay, Threepio. Poe and I clearly have a lot of catching up to do,” Finn says, trying to put the droid at ease. “Speaking of which, he said he was going to send the details for Connix’s dinner party tonight. You know anything about that?”

“Oh my goodness!” Threepio says, throwing his metal arms in the air, distressed. “Did I not mention it before? There has been a slight change to the schedule.”

Finn inhales sharply, trying to hide his annoyance. “No, you didn’t mention that. Did Connix have to cancel?”

“Oh no, the party will still go on as planned. But Master Poe has arranged something else for the two of you. And at the very last minute, too! Which, if you don’t mind me saying so, Master Finn, is no way to treat your guests. I—”

“Threepio,” Finn interrupts, raising his eyebrows. Now he’s interested. “Is Poe coming here or am I supposed to meet him somewhere in the city?”

“Well now, he should be arriving in just a few-”

There’s a knock. Finn is on his feet and opening the door before Threepio even turns around.

“He’s early!” Threepio says at the sight of Poe in the entryway. “How unusual!”

“Hey, I’m always on time when it counts,” Poe says, stepping into the room and grinning at Finn. “I hope he hasn’t been talking your ear off.”

“It was nice to see him again,” Finn says, slapping Threepio on the back and laughing when the droid rattles and lets out a surprised _oh dear!_

“I see you’ve taken full advantage of the refresher,” Poe says, nodding at Finn’s robe. He sniffs the air theatrically. “You smell like a day spa.”

Finn sheepishly tugs the robe tighter around his body. “So, these new plans of ours. What’s the dress code?”

Poe’s face falls. He looks almost guilty. “If you want to see everyone else back at Connix’s place, I get it. We can do that. But Finn, there’s so much I have to tell you. And if I’m being honest, I don’t know how much time we’ll get this week.”

Finn softens. He can feel some of the tension and anxiety he’s been harboring start to melt away. “I’ll still see everyone at brunch tomorrow. What did you have in mind?”

The grin springs back to Poe’s face.

“How would you like a personal tour of Hanna City?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything's made up because I'm an imposter who knows very, very little about the Star Wars universe. Everything I've learned, I've learned it from Wookieepedia. So my updates might take a little longer for this fic, only because there's quite a bit of research attached to it!
> 
> Follow me at goldenroses13.tumblr.com - we can always chat more there.


	3. THE CITY

Poe sends Threepio off to Rey’s half of the suite with instructions to escort her to Connix’s house. There’s a stillness in the room after the droid closes the connecting door behind him.

And then Finn starts laughing.

“‘Make sure she gets there safely?’” Finn mocks, grinning as he throws his luggage onto the bed. “Really?”

“What?” Poe snaps, perching himself on the edge of the mattress and frowning at Finn. “Look, I know she could murder us both with a flick of her wrist, but I’m just looking out for her. She’s never been to Chandrila before!”

Finn just smiles and unzips his bag. Poe has changed into a pair of fitted blank pants and a hooded jacket. It’s a more casual ensemble than the one he was wearing a couple of hours ago, but he’s still more buttoned-up than Finn is used to seeing him.

“There’s a chill here in the evenings,” Poe says, watching him unpack. “It comes in from the sea. So you might want to bundle up a little.”

Finn nods and dumps the contents of his bag onto the duvet, selecting a pair of pants and an off-white shirt. He smoothes out the wrinkled fabric as best he can, making a mental note to unpack and hang up the rest of his outfits later in the evening. He doesn’t want to show up to tomorrow’s brunch looking like he’s living out of a suitcase — even if that is the truth, and has been for a while now.

He brushes a pair of socks aside and throws a scarf back into the bag, and then his breath catches — he and Poe see it at the same time, the leather sleeve peeking out from a pile of clothes.

Poe pulls out his old jacket. He’s smiling.

“You brought this with you.” He carefully spreads it out on the bed, brushing his fingertips along the collar.

Finn’s cheeks grow warm. “It’s one of maybe three jackets I own. So yes, I brought it.”

Poe arches an eyebrow at him, smirking.

“And fine, maybe it makes me feel a little sentimental, too.”

Poe traces a finger down the line of stitches on the back of the jacket, suddenly serious. “It feels like I gave you this a lifetime ago. Everything has changed since then.”

“Not everything,” Finn says, throwing his change of clothes over one arm. “We’re still the same, aren’t we?”

Poe looks up at him, and Finn feels that same tension he felt from their reunion on the landing pad. But Poe is smiling, at least, and that has to count for something.

“There’s so much we have to talk about,” Poe says. He neatly folds the jacket, passing it over to Finn. “Go get changed and let’s head out.”

* * *

Hanna City is truly a blend of the old and new, and Finn becomes more and more enamored with every corner he turns. For every street filled with cosmopolitan boutiques and trendy restaurants there are also streets laid with old brick, lined with music halls and art galleries in grand, ancient buildings.

The locals seem friendly, too. Poe even gets stopped a couple of times for a handshake and a ‘thank you,’ and Finn now understands why he’s wearing the hooded jacket — it’s so he can disappear. He’s a familiar face now, after all. More so than when he was on the First Order’s most wanted lists, plastered next to a handsome bounty.

“The city is almost entirely walkable,” Poe says as they duck into a small cafe. He orders two cups of caf and scans his credit chip. “It’s not huge by any means, but there’s plenty to do. And it’s easy to slip away when you need to.”

Finn follows Poe back out onto the street, blowing at the steam coming off his drink. “Do you get much time for yourself these days?”

Poe shrugs and sips his own drink, glancing at Finn over the top of the lid. “The funny thing is, almost everything I do is like an official appearance now. Zorii and I can go out for dinner and by morning the footage is all over the HoloNet. And if I go to the theatre, it’s because some dignitary invited me and we need the connection. There’s not a lot I do that’s not without a purpose.”

Finn frowns as they come to a stop at an intersection. “And you like all this politicking?”

“Not all of it. But it comes with the territory and it’s what the Resistance — the Republic — needs right now, and that’s where my priorities lie. It’s where she would want me — Leia, I mean.”

Finn feels his chest tighten. He can sense that Poe hasn’t quite healed from Leia’s loss — Rey hasn’t, either. It’s part of the reason she needed him to stay behind on Ajan Kloss. There was no one else left who knew what it meant to feel the Force.

Poe clears his throat and leads Finn across the street at the signal change. “And besides, the war might be over, but the battles aren’t.”

“Yeah. The prison camps,” Finn says, frowning. As a Stormtrooper he’d heard rumors of those camps, set apart from the jails and prisons for common criminals and reserved specifically for enemies of the regime. He didn’t know they actually existed until a few months after Exegol, when HoloNet News started reporting on them. “Any idea of how many are left?”

“It’s unclear right now. We’ve liberated four of them so far and are scouting three more. But they’ve been all over the galaxy, no rhyme or reason as to why they were built where they were built. They’re hard to track down.”

“Even with First Order defectors working with you now?”

“So few actually knew the coordinates,” Poe says. “It was all at the top. And I think we lost most of them during Exegol.”

They both fall silent for a moment, lost in their own troubled thoughts. It’s beginning to dawn on Finn just how little he actually knows about the Resistance’s work — there’s only so much he’s learned from watching the news programs. And with that realization comes a bitter wave of guilt. Poe’s been shouldering much of the work on his own. The behind-the-scenes, the decisions that put lives at risk and morph a new way of living — that’s all on him.

Poe bumps his shoulder lightly, dragging him out of his own head.

“Did you hear me?”

“No, sorry.”

“The sun is starting to set,” Poe smiles, pointing up. Finn tilts his head back. Sure enough, the sky is lavender. “Do you want to grab something to eat and watch it from the hilltop? There’s a much better view from up there.”

* * *

They take a landspeeder and two cartons of ginger noodles to the outskirts of the city. It’s quieter, naturally, which in turn makes Finn feel more at ease. Funny, he thinks, how quickly he adapted to the calm jungles of Ajan Kloss after a lifetime of noise and blaster battles and shared living quarters. 

And the sunset is breathtaking. He almost lets his dinner grow cold as they watch the purple sky slowly transform into a sea of glittery gold.

“For what it’s worth, I think Leia would also want you to be happy,” Finn says, finally breaking their silence and looking over at Poe, sitting next to him on the hood of the landspeeder.

Poe looks down at his hands, sucking on his bottom lip in a way that makes Finn’s stomach flip. For a moment, he’s not a celebrated general turned politician. He’s just the young, magnetic pilot who dove into his arms on D’Qar.

“I’m not _unhappy_ ,” Poe says. “I’ve had to adjust to all these changes and navigate what it all means without Leia…or Rey. Or you. But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean I’m unhappy.”

“Some days I wish we could’ve been two places at once,” Finn admits, giving him a tight smile. “You know, I never got the chance to tell Leia I could feel the Force, too.”

“You made the right choice to stay with Rey,” Poe says. “She needed you more than I did. And speaking of that…?”

Finn shrugs, shoveling a forkful of ginger noodles into his mouth in lieu of answering. His work with Rey feels so inconsequential compared to Poe’s. He’s almost embarrassed.

“Okay, can I show you something? You okay if I use the Force?”

Poe hesitates, leaning away from him. “On me?”

“What? No.” Finn rests a hand on his knee in a way he hopes is reassuring. Poe seems to relax a bit under his touch, so he counts that as a win. “Here, watch.”

Finn lifts his hand carefully, concentrating on Poe’s empty cup of caf sitting between them. The lid lifts off the rim of the cup with a soft _pop_ and bobs in the air above them.

“You can move things now!”

“Yeah, I can move things now,” Finn grins. Poe snatches the lid out of the air and fastens it back onto his cup.

“That’s amazing, Finn.” Poe suddenly frowns, eyes narrowing in mock suspicion. “Are you reading my mind right now?”

Finn laughs. “Come on, you know that’s not really how it works. It’s more of a feeling. I could tell you were a little nervous. But you also trusted me.”

Poe drops his hand on top of Finn’s on the hood of the landspeeder, running his thumb over the ridges of his knuckles. Finn closes his eyes, feeling something stir in the pit of his stomach.

“So,” he says awkwardly, before he can stop himself. “You and Zorii Bliss, huh?”

“Finn.” Poe pulls his hand back and the moment is gone. “I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to tell you before the invitations went out. I had every intention to talk you through it all, but then I got tied up, and before I knew it it was out there…I mean, there’s no good excuse other than I’m just a lousy friend.”

“You’re not a bad friend. You do have an entire government to rebuild,” Finn says. As frustrated and confused as he was, it’s hard to stay upset when Poe is right in front of him, in the flesh. “I guess my question is, how does her past affect your chances for First Senator? I mean, how does _your_ past affect your chances?”

That question doesn’t even top his growing list, but he figures it’s safe to start there.

“Threepio told you about that, huh?” Poe says, eyes rolling toward the sky. “We’ll get back to that in a second. But the good news? And kriff, Finn, I swear I was going to tell you this before everything that happened happened, but I was never actually a part of that operation with the Spice Runners.”

Finn frowns, letting that sink in a moment. He can't say he's surprised — he knows Poe better than most, and he was never able to reconcile Resistance pilot Poe Dameron with spice runner Poe Dameron. It just didn't add up. 

“Leia sent me to Kijimi on one of my first missions with the Resistance. It was a six-month operation, and I was trying to get my hands on their clientele list to see what dirt we could dig up on any First Order operatives. It was relatively low-risk — leaving was the hardest part.”

“Because you were in love with Zorii?”

Something like annoyance flashes in Poe’s eyes.

“Because she would’ve killed me before letting me go, especially with all that I knew,” he says. “She had a blaster to my head when she found us — you saw that.”

“But _her_ time with the spice runners doesn’t hurt your chances in the election?” Finn asks. “If there is one, I mean.”

Poe shrugs. “She saved our asses when we were facing almost certain failure and she stuck around to see everything through after the fighting was over. She’s a war hero, but she’s a competent leader, too. In an election, that counts for a lot.”

Finn can tell Poe is well-rehearsed for this story, this explanation. It’s not the first time he’s had to parrot it to someone, and it certainly won’t be the last.

“So you guys really are just the golden couple, then?” he teases, trying to lighten the mood.

Poe scoffs, rolling his eyes again. “That’s how the campaign team likes to market us, yes.”

Finn’s smile falters. His mental list of questions just keeps growing and growing, but he can tell it’s time to change the subject. He’ll have all week to learn more about Zorii and Poe.

“It’s nice that you two found each other after all that time apart,” Finn says, and he means it. After all, what are the chances of that? If the Force brought Finn to the Resistance, certainly it could’ve brought Poe back to Zorii. “I’m happy for you, Poe.”

But Poe doesn’t thank him. Doesn’t even smile. He just stares ahead at the setting sun, jaw set.

“Finn?” he asks, voice soft. “There’s something else I need to tell you about me and Zorii.”

And then his comlink rings. Poe groans, pulling it off his belt.

“Sorry, Finn, hang on." Poe slides off the hood of the landspeeder and walks further down the hill, lifting the device to his lips. “It’s Poe. Go ahead.”

All Finn hears is a muffled male voice from the speaker, and then Poe’s, clearer, even with his back turned — “Really? I wasn’t expecting him until the morning. No — it’s great. I’ll come to greet him and take him to his rooms.”

Poe hangs up and turns back around.

“It's my dad,” he says, grinning, brown eyes wide and bright. “He came in early.”


	4. AN INTERLUDE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one weekend! I do hope you are enjoying this story so far - it's slow getting started, but I hope the ending pays off.
> 
> I did "rebrand" this fic a bit in the tags and summary, as I was worried some potential readers might think this is a Poe/Zorii fic, and at this point in the story it's not a spoiler that there's something up with their engagement. There are still a couple of surprises on the horizon but don't worry, this is a Poe/Finn fic through and through. 
> 
> Anyhow, I wanted to write a shorter chapter (an interlude, if you will) to dive a little more into Finn's headspace. So, enjoy!

Rey is sitting on Finn’s bed when he returns to his room, a blanket draped over her shoulders and a data pad in her lap. When he sees her, he has to do a double-take.

She’s dressed in a midnight blue velvet dress with sleeves cut open at the shoulders and a structured neckline that hits just above her collarbone. Her hair is swept up in a neat bun with a few wispy pieces framing her face. Finn’s never seen her in a dress, much less makeup — she’s wearing shimmery gold eyeshadow and an almost burgundy lip stain.

Finn lets out a low, appreciative whistle.

“Don’t even start,” Rey says, tossing her data pad aside and drawing the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “I didn’t know what everyone else would be wearing.”

Finn grins at her and crosses his arms. “I didn’t even know you owned a dress like that.”

“I _don’t_ own a dress like this. Zorii loaned it to me, and a few others for the week.”

“Ah.” Finn sits next to her on the bed and leans back against the headboard, peeling off his shoes and pulling his feet up. “So? How was dinner?”

Rey draws her legs up to her chest, her face softening. The makeup makes her appear much older than her twenty years but now, with her chin resting on top of her knees, she looks like a little girl. “I missed them so much, Finn. It was just how it used to be.”

Finn smiles. “But without the overwhelming feeling of dread and despair?”

“Yes, without all of that,” Rey says, waving a hand. “I’d never seen everyone so relaxed, so happy. Truly.”

Finn leans forward, considering her for a moment as he tries to get a read on her innermost thoughts. There’s conflict and yearning there, and something else that shocks him.

“Rey, are you thinking of staying?”

Rey sighs and shuts her eyes, quiet for a moment before setting her jaw and shaking her head.

“Nowhere is truly safe, not even Ajan Kloss,” she says, almost to herself. “But Ajan Kloss is at least safer than here.”

Finn feels his heartbeat quicken with a familiar anxiety. “What do you mean? Rey, is something wrong?”

“I don’t really know,” Rey confesses. “But we need to keep our eyes open while we’re here. I don’t know if it’s because of the First Order deserters in the city or what it is, but something’s not right.”

Finn lifts his eyebrows in surprise. He thinks of Jannah and Company 77 and all the others who have found a home and freedom in Hanna City. He tries to mask his frustration when he speaks, but it’s difficult.

“They can change, you know. They _have_ changed.”

Rey’s face turns red.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” she explains, touching his knee. “I only worry about what — or who — could be hiding among them.”

“If you feel something, you need to tell Poe,” Finn says. “He’d want to know about it.”

Rey gives him a tight-lipped smile. “If it’s something we can handle while we’re here, don’t you think we should let him enjoy his engagement party?”

“Yeah, you know how much Poe loves to be kept in the dark.”

Rey laughs at that and shrugs the blanket off her shoulders, stretching her arms over her head and yawning. It’s contagious, of course — Finn tries to cover up his own yawn with his hand.

“I hope skipping out on Connix’s party to run around the city with him was worth it,” Rey says, climbing out of the bed. Finn passes her her data pad.

“Kes came early so it got cut short. But it was good to have some time alone with him.”

“Is it all starting to feel normal again?” Rey asks.

Finn shrugs his shoulders and manages a smile. “Getting there.”

“‘Getting there’ is something,” Rey says, and squeezes his arm before heading back to her half of the suite.

* * *

Finn is having that dream again.

It’s a nice dream. Nice, because it involves Poe’s lips on his neck and his own fingers tangled in Poe’s soft curls. He never knows how they end up like this or where they are, even. In this dream, nothing else seems to matter much to Finn aside from getting as close to Poe as humanly possible.

Just like he’s done in all the other dreams before this one, Poe drags his teeth across the thin skin of Finn’s neck and breathes into his ear.

But then he speaks, soft and breathless, and he’s never done that before. 

_“There’s something else I need to tell you about me and Zorii.”_

Finn’s eyes open up to the sun streaming in through his windows. He blinks up at the ceiling rapidly, trying to adjust to the morning sunlight. His nightshirt and bedsheets are soaked in sweat.

He rolls over onto one side and rubs his face, groaning into his hand. It’s been a while since he’s had that dream, but of course, it’s come back for him now, on a day he has to spend celebrating Poe’s inevitable marriage.

The truth is, Finn has come to terms with the fact he will likely always harbor something for Poe. He accepted that a long time ago, and it became a part of him as much as the Force. He has a difficult time defining what exactly that _something_ is, though his dreams try to do that work for him.

For a while he thought maybe Poe felt it too, but naturally that _something_ waxed and waned over time and led them here.

And it’s a little too late to sort that _something_ out now.

Finn looks over at the chrono on his nightstand and slips his hand under the waistband of his shorts, feeling himself. He’s overslept, but he only needs a few minutes…

There’s a polite knock at his door.

“Kriff,” Finn mutters, tucking himself back in and sitting up, flustered. “Come — come in!”

“Good morning, Master Finn!” Threepio calls out to him cheerily, stepping into the room and throwing his arms up in greeting. “Don’t you think it’s wonderful they’ve kept this building’s original doors instead of upgrading them to the pneumatic models? It’s all very charming!”

Finn rubs his temple and sighs through his nose. “Very charming, yes.”

Threepio slowly turns his head to one side and then the other, taking in the room.

“Sir, if I may,” he says, voice low with concern. “You only have forty-two minutes to prepare yourself for the brunch.”

Defeated, Finn throws the duvet back and climbs out of bed.

“Did Poe put you up to this, Threepio?”

“Master Poe did request that I keep you company and ensure your stay is as pleasant as possible, as you are his dearest friend!”

“Perfect,” Finn sighs, grabbing a change of clothes from his wardrobe. “Well, Master Poe’s ‘dearest friend’ is going to hop in the fresher, if you’ll excuse me.”

Threepio is still droning on when Finn steps into the refresher, letting his head fall back against the closed door.

He shuts his eyes and exhales, slow.

It’s going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can always follow me on tumblr - same username,
> 
> [goldenroses13](https://goldenroses13.tumblr.com/)


	5. THE ATTEMPT

There’s no denying it. Poe and Zorii have impeccable taste.

Or, at least, their party planners do.

Their engagement brunch is held in an open-air seaside garden decorated with paper lanterns and vases full of colorful fresh-cut flowers. It’s elegant and clean and bright and unlike any Resistance party Finn has ever attended. It’s not an especially large gathering, either, but there are still plenty of faces Finn doesn’t recognize milling around the tables and sampling the spring roll appetizers.

He quickly seeks out a few of his old friends, gathered along the edge of the room near the cabaret tables. Rey sticks close to his side as he makes small talk with Connix, Wedge, and Jessika, only stepping away to help when she sees Rose perilously balancing a tray of flutes filled with a sweet-smelling orange drink.

“Was Jannah on the shuttle over with any of you?” Rose asks, joining them and passing the glasses around. She sets the tray aside. “We were supposed to head over together but I haven’t heard from her at all.”

Connix looks at Jessika and shrugs. Rey takes a small sip of her drink and pulls a face.

“No, sorry,” she says, setting her drink back down and clearing her throat. “I haven’t seen her since dinner last night.”

Finn shrugs, too. “Sorry, Rose. Haven’t heard from her, either.”

Rose tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear and sighs, biting down on her lip and wringing a cloth napkin in her hands. “It’s just not like her.”

Finn looks over his shoulder and scans the room, searching for Jannah. He spots the back of Poe’s head instead, and his stomach flip-flops. Poe’s dressed in a simple dark red suit, shaking hands with a few vaguely important-looking people while trying to lead an older man over to one of the empty tables. He catches Finn’s eye from across the room when he turns around and waves him over, grinning.

Finn quickly swallows down the rest of his drink and heads toward Poe. The man standing with him looks up and smiles, and right away, Finn knows exactly who he is.

“Finn!” Poe says, clapping him on the shoulder. “I want you to meet my dad.”

He’s just a little taller than Poe with the same dark, thick eyebrows. His hair is cut short and peppered with silver. Finn gets the feeling Poe bears a closer resemblance to his mother, but he and Kes certainly have the same piercing brown eyes.

“It’s a pleasure, sir,” Finn says, holding out his hand. Kes shakes it firmly, looking Finn up and down. He and Poe share the same toothy grin.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Finn.”

Finn quirks an eyebrow at Poe. He swears he sees a little color rise in the apples of Poe’s cheeks.

“All good things, I hope.”

Kes takes Finn’s hand back and holds it in both of his. “You saved my son’s life. I can never thank you enough for that.”

Finn feels his throat tighten, surprised by the sudden wave of emotion. He looks at Poe out of the corner of his eye and sees him duck his head, smiling.

“That’s not necessary,” Finn says. “He’s returned the favor more than a few times. He gave me my name, too. I’d say we’re about even.”

“Not that we’re keeping count,” Poe teases.

“Still, I won’t forget it,” Kes says, squeezing Finn’s hand before dropping it. “So, how are you liking Hanna City? Do you live near Poe and Zorii?”

“Oh, no, dad,” Poe chimes in before Finn can get a word out, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Finn’s still living on Ajan Kloss. Training with Rey.”

He points out Rey across the room, wearing a loose-fitting canary yellow dress and splitting a plate of fruit with Rose, her eyes periodically darting around the room.

“That’s Rey.”

“That’s Rey,” Kes repeats, considering her a moment, a funny smile on his face. “Smaller than I thought she’d be.”

“She’s powerful,” Poe says, a bit defensive.

“Oh, if Luke put his faith in her, believed in her…I have no doubt,” Kes says. He raises an eyebrow at Finn, looking him over again with renewed interest. “So you’re a Jedi?”

“It’s…a process,” Finn says honestly. “I don’t even really know what it means yet, being one. But Luke believed some of his students survived Kylo Ren’s massacre. So, for now anyway, finding them has been Rey’s priority — not necessarily my training.”

Finn gives Kes a tight smile, trying his best to mask his disappointment. But Poe picks up on it and nudges his ribs with his elbow, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“Show him.”

“Show him what, Poe?”

“What you showed me last night — how you can move things.”

Finn rolls his eyes fondly and reaches toward one of the bouquets on the table, spreading his fingers. He lifts out a single flower, pulling it through a throng of surprised guests and bringing it over to Poe. Poe plucks it out of the air with a proud grin, holding it up for Kes to see.

Kes takes the flower from his son and twists it by the stem, admiring the white and indigo color and the thin, curved petals.

“You had these imported from Yavin 4.”

Poe smiles. “A little piece of home.”

Kes clears his throat and hands the flower back to Finn, who carefully sends it back to its vase. “It would be nice to have you back there someday, son.”

Something in the air shifts, Finn can feel it even before the smile slips off of Poe’s face. He pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing.

“Dad. The Republic needs me and Zorii here, in the City. We’re not having this fight again. Not in front of Finn.”

Finn takes a step away from them, hands up. “Uh, I can leave.”

“No, _I’ll_ leave,” Poe says, eyes suddenly locked on something across the room. He pushes past Finn, grazing his shoulder. “Zorii just arrived, anyway.”

Finn turns around in time to watch Zorii step into the pavilion. She’s wearing a form-fitting jumpsuit with a wide sash tied around her waist, hair braided down her back. She’s beautiful, of course, but her face is pinched with concern, lips pulled down in a frown as she speaks with Poe in a low voice he can’t make out over the noise of the guests.

Poe puts his hands on either side of her head, pulling her against his chest in a hug as he glances around at their party guests. He whispers something in her ear, then, and leads her outside of the pavilion and onto the beach.

“Any guesses on what that’s about?” Kes asks behind him.

“I don’t know,” Finn says, turning back around and shrugging a shoulder. “There’s a lot I don’t know about them.”

“I’ve only met her a handful of times now. They’re a lot alike, those two,” Kes says. “She’s not exactly who I thought my son would end up with, but I suppose if she makes him happy…”

Kes trails off, sighing. Finn steps a little closer, sensing a story coming.

“Don’t get me wrong, Finn. I’m proud of him. I’m proud of what he’s done, and what he will do. But the Resistance has been his entire life — I had some hope that he might retire before he settled down. One of my biggest regrets is missing his early years, during the war. I know it was Shara’s, too. She had so little time with him.”

“He has a strong sense of duty,” Finn says. “He always has, for as long as I’ve known him. And I know he feels he owes something to Leia.”

“And why did you leave the Resistance, Finn?”

“I was a Stormtrooper all my life, before I met Poe. So when the fighting was over, I needed to figure out who I was outside of the war. But for Poe, I think he’s always known this is who he is.”

“A fighter and a Rebel, yes,” Kes agrees. “But a politician? I’m just not so sure.”

“I don’t-”

A small hand suddenly closes around his wrist, startling him. Rey appears at his side, smiling politely at Kes even as her grip on Finn tightens.

“I’m terribly sorry, sir,” she says to Kes. “I just need to borrow him for a moment.”

“Rey,” Finn says, trying to discreetly shake out of her hold. “This is Kes. Poe’s dad.”

“Oh!” Rey says, cheeks flushing pink. She drops Finn’s wrist and holds out her hand. “Kes Dameron. I’m so sorry. I’m Rey.”

“I know,” Kes says, squeezing her hand in return. “I’ve heard great things, and Finn was just catching me up on the work you’re doing. Luke would be proud.”

Rey straightens up, eyes bright. “You knew Luke?”

“Poe’s mother knew him better than I ever did,” Kes says. “But the Force-sensitive tree he gave her as a sapling still grows right outside my front windows.”

“Force-sensitive tree?” Finn repeats.

“The Great Tree,” Rey says, a wide smile spreading across her face. “Of course. The one that grew in the heart of the Jedi Temple.”

“Not helping,” Finn deadpans.

“On Coruscant. The tree was removed after the Clone Wars, when the Temple was renovated and became a palace. But parts of it were kept hidden away. When Luke found them, he gifted one to Shara Bey.” Rey smiles shyly at Kes, embarrassed by her own knowledge. “Luke told me the story, when he trained me. He said they used the tree to train younglings in the Capital.”

Kes smiles. “Let me know if you ever find yourself on Yavin 4. I would love to show it to you both.”

“Thank you, I might take you up on that offer,” Rey says, a little breathless. She grabs hold of Finn’s hand again, suddenly remembering what she interrupted them for. “Would you come with me? Please?”

They give their goodbyes to Kes and Rey drags him away.

“What’s going on?” Finn asks. “I was kind of in the middle of something.”

“It’s Jannah,” Rey says as she shoulders past a group of guests. “She just arrived. She seems upset about something, but Rose can’t get it out of her.”

“And what makes you think I can?”

“You two are just…it’s different.”

Sure enough, when Finn reaches their table, Jannah is draining her second flute and staring pointedly out at the sea. Rose is next to her, quiet and nervous.

“Jannah?” Finn says uncertainly, standing across from her at the hightop. She turns to look at him through smudged makeup, her eyes red and bloodshot. Finn swallows down a wave of anxiety and finds his own hands are trembling. It’s like he can feel her pain in his bones. “Everything okay? Want to go for a walk?”

Jannah sets her glass down on the table, hard. “I can’t believe you two, dragging Finn over here. I told you I’m fine. Now leave it, please?”

“Except you’re clearly not,” Rose says stiffly. “You’re my best friend, Jannah, but if this stuff is easier for you to work through with Finn…”

Finn blinks, looking between Jannah and Rose. “What stuff?”

“Stormtrooper stuff!” Rose explodes, throwing her hands in the air. “She never wants to talk about Lando, or trying to find her homeworld and her family. She’s so private with all of it, and I-”

Jannah’s hands clench into fists, nails digging into her palms. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here!”

“I know it’s not my business, Jannah, but it’s hard when you get in these moods and-”

“Good afternoon, everyone!”

The chattering around them grows quiet and Finn spins around to see Poe and Zorii at the front of the pavilion, holding hands, bright smiles plastered on their faces. Whatever was bothering Zorii before, she appears to be past it.

Behind him, Jannah scoffs.

“I can’t do this today.”

By the time he turns around to look at her, she’s already disappeared into the crowd of guests. Rose turns to run after her but Rey holds her back by the arm, shaking her head.

“Thank you all so much for being here today,” Poe continues, oblivious to the commotion. “I promise, I’ll keep it brief. I only want to say that we both feel so lucky to be surrounded by our family and friends — some new, and some old. But of course, they can’t all be here. We’ve lost a lot of them along the way. But my mother, Leia, everyone we’ve had to say goodbye to —they fought for what we get to create now. They fought for the peace that allows us the time to gather and celebrate and plan our lives with the people we love, and so many other things we missed out on during the war. And for that, I know Zorii and I are forever grateful. So thank you again — enjoy the food, and we’ll see you for the real party tonight!”

Someone near the front of the room cheers and there’s scattered applause among the rest of the guests. Finn sees Poe smile at Kes, who only nods — a peace offering. But when he looks back to Rey her face has turned white, like the breath has been knocked out of her.

“Rey?” Finn asks, fingertips grazing her arm. She’s cold under his touch. “What’s going on?”

“Something’s not right,” she whispers, repeating her words from last night. Her eyes are wide as she looks around the room. “Finn…”

“Rey, I told you,” Finn whispers in her ear. He glances at a few of the guests in their immediate area. Lots of soft politician-types in suits and dresses. Hardly a threat. “If you feel something, you need to talk to Poe.”

“I need more than a feeling,” Rey says, brow furrowing as the color returns to her face. She takes a deep breath, holding the edge of the table to steady herself. “What good is telling him I have a feeling when I don’t even know what to do with it myself?”

Finn frowns and snatches another flute of the mysterious orange drink off a passing tray. He can tell he’ll need all the help he can get to make it through the night.

* * *

As it turns out, the extra drinks don’t do much aside from helping him nap between brunch and the party. As soon as he wakes up and freshens up he transmits a quick message to Poe, requesting to meet early. Rey is still in her room when he comes in to tell her he’s headed to the opera house. The lights are low and there’s a star-chart holo spinning around the room. He doesn’t ask, and she just waves him along, lost in her own head.

It’s hard to miss the opera house with its large marble columns and arched entryway. Poe is already sitting outside on the steps when he arrives, a data pad clenched in one hand and a stylus in the other. 

“Hey,” Finn says, climbing the steps to greet him. Poe looks up from his work and grins, setting the data pad aside. “Thanks for coming early. I’m sorry if I pulled you away from Zorii or your dad or work…?”

Poe shakes his head and pats the steps next to him. Finn sits down.

“Zorii’s inside helping get things ready, and dad and Lando are catching up at some cantina down the street — who knows if they’ll even make it to the party,” Poe says, grinning.

Finn looks down at the data pad, resting on the step between them. “Anything important?”

“Always,” Poe says, stuffing the data pad in his bag instead. “But it can wait. What’s going on?”

“Ok,” Finn says, looking around the empty set of steps. “Don’t tell Rey we talked about this? Please?”

Poe frowns, puzzled. “Talked about what?”

“Rey’s been having…this feeling. There’s something going on here in the city that’s setting her off. It happened again today, at brunch. She’s been holding off on telling you because she’s worried about ruining your engagement party and thinks she can handle it on her own. But if you’re not safe I can’t just be a bystander.“

Poe shuts his eyes and shakes his head, sighing. “Finn. I know what it is.”

“You do?” Finn feels the tension in his shoulders lessen.

Poe nods. “I do. I was going to tell you last night before I got called away.”

Finn tilts his head, frowning. “So just tell me now.”

“I-“ Poe sighs through his nose, frustrated. “I will. But not right before this party, okay? It’s just not a good time.”

“Poe-”

“Look, can we meet up in the morning for breakfast? Somewhere private? I’ll tell you everything. It’s just…it’s a long story.”

Finn feels himself deflating. “Okay. Whatever you want. But just promise me something?”

“What?”

“Promise me you’re not in any danger.”

Poe’s face softens. He grabs hold of Finn’s hand, resting on one of the stairs. “I’m safe. I promise.”

Finn just nods, squeezing his hand in return. If he moved up one step and leaned forward just a bit he could kiss Poe.

But he tries not to think about that.

“Poe! Finn!”

Finn drops Poe’s hand, suddenly self-conscious, as Connix and Jessika make their way up the set of steps. Connix shifts a small, wrapped box from one arm into the other.

“We’re early,” Jessika says, stopping in front of them and resting her own gift on top of her bent knee. “That okay?”

“Go on in,” Poe says, nodding toward the entryway. “You’ll see Zorii in the main hall. She’ll take the gifts off your hands and get you guys settled.”

“See you boys in there,” Connix says, passing them on the steps, Jessika trailing after her.

Finn turns to Poe and grimaces.

“Poe? I didn’t get you a gift.”

Poe just laughs, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. “Don’t even worry about it. Seriously, Finn. You being here is enough.”

“I can make it up to you at the wedding?” Finn shoots him a tight smile. And for the first time since he received the invitation it really, truly hits him in a way it hadn’t before — Poe is getting married.

Poe’s own smile drops, just slightly. “Absolutely.”

* * *

The party is well underway by the time Finn finds Jannah, sitting by herself with a glass of Corellian wine.

“I thought you’d be up there dancing,” Finn says, trying to lighten the tension growing between them as he pulls a chair up to the table, sitting beside her.

Jannah’s brown eyes cut into him as she swirls what’s left of her wine.

“I don’t really dance.”

She’s touched up her makeup since brunch and, all things considered, looks better than she did earlier in the day. But there’s still something dragging her down, a heaviness Finn knows well but can’t define.

She downs the rest of her drink in a single gulp. “Did Rey and Rose send you over again?”

Finn almost laughs. “No. I just wanted to check in on you. And also let you know that if you ever do need someone to talk to about…you know, what we went through? I’m here for you.”

Jannah actually smiles at that — a genuine one. “Thank you, Finn.”

“Anytime,” Finn smiles, relaxing a bit. “We don’t have to talk about this now if you don’t want to. But do you know how many former Stormtroopers are living in the city now? Have you met many of them?”

“We’ve had a decent number of them join our cause,” Jannah says, crossing her legs and angling toward him. “But plenty have gone into hiding — they’re still loyal to the First Order. It’s not exactly a secret, but it’s not something we’ve truly addressed yet, either.”

Finn leans in. “Are they still loyal? Or do they just not know where else to turn?”

Jannah tears her eyes away from him, looking somewhere off past his head instead. “To tell you the truth, Finn, I’m not really sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“Not a lot of work has been done yet to rehabilitate the ones we have welcomed to Hanna City,” she says. “It’s a shame, really. And we’re trying. But we’re so strapped for time and resources now. Especially with the prison camps, reuniting the First Order prisoners with their families…”

Finn frowns. “So there’s no program in place yet? Jannah, you and I know better than anyone else how important this is.”

“I know, Finn. Believe me.” She meets his eyes again, searching his face. “I know you don’t think you’re cut out for this life. And I don’t mean to make you feel guilty for the choices you made — they were yours to make, after all. But we really could’ve used you here, Finn. We still could.”

Finn is speechless. By the time he finds the words he’s looking for, the live band has stopped playing and there are loud cheers and laughter from the other side of the room.

“I don’t know what to say.” Finn leans back in his chair, that familiar guilt creeping in on him. “I thought I was doing what was right for me.”

“Not everyone gets that privilege,” Jannah says softly. “You and I know that. Better than anyone else.”

She stands up then, dragging Finn up with her and linking their arms.

“Hey. We’ve got all week to chat about it,” she says, suddenly cheery. She leans against him, warm and comforting, and he feels the mood lift. His mind doesn’t exactly stop racing, but it steadies its pace. “And I think the happy couple is starting to open their presents. What did you get them?”

He shoots her an embarrassed smile “I forgot a gift. Is that bad?”

Jannah winks at him. “No. I didn’t get them anything, either.”

Poe and Zorii have already opened a few of their presents by the time Finn files into the circle of party guests, Jannah’s arm still looped in his. Zorii is carefully setting aside a jewelry box when Poe picks a small, square package off the table. He holds it in his palm.

“This one is addressed to me,” he says, reading the name tag and grinning at Zorii. “Only me.”

“Oh really,” Zorii laughs, stepping up behind him and looking over his shoulder. “Who’s it from?”

“Doesn’t say.” Poe pulls off the ribbon, opening up the top and peeking inside.

Finn feels his stomach drop, knees nearly buckling under his weight. It’s like the floor has dropped out from under him and the walls are caving in, all at once. He wants to scream but no words come out.

“NO!”

It’s Rey, somewhere close. And then she’s darting past him, her yellow lightsaber glowing in the dimly lit room. The crowd gasps, parting for her.

With one flick of her lightsaber the box is cut in two, falling to the floor. Poe stumbles backward, staring at Rey with a mix of shock and awe. At his feet, one charred half of a long, thin insect twitches, its legs curling in on its body like wilting leaves.

“A kouhun,” Rey says, chest heaving, pointing at it with her saber. “An assassin’s bug.”

Finn steps up next to Poe, his blaster at his side. He doesn’t remember drawing it. Poe’s own hand is at his belt, an instinct, but there’s nothing there to grab.

Finn realizes he’s trembling. It’s been so long since he’s seen any action. He takes hold of Poe’s hand without a second thought, trying to center himself. “Are you both okay?”

“It didn’t touch us,” Poe says, running the pad of his thumb over Finn’s knuckles and looking back at Zorii.

She nods, eyes wide. “We’re okay.”

On the gift table, a wine glass shatters before Finn even hears the blaster go off.

“Everyone get down!” Finn screams, pulling Poe to the floor, shielding him with his body. Rey whirls around while everyone else hits the marbled tiles, eyes fixed on the second level of the hall. She sprints off in the direction of the grand staircase.

“Poe…”

It’s Zorii, somewhere to Finn’s right. Her voice is clear as a bell, even with the screams echoing through the hall. He pushes himself off the floor, careful not to cut himself on the shards of dropped glassware, and turns toward her voice. She’s kneeling next to them, her hand pressed against a gaping, scorched blasterfire wound on her shoulder.

Finn reaches out to catch her just before she goes limp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing plot is hard. Thanks for your patience with getting this chapter out. 
> 
> Tumblr: [goldenroses13](https://goldenroses13.tumblr.com/)


	6. THE AFTERMATH

The screams all around him are deafening. There's a security officer in the room with them now – Finn had noticed her at the door when he first entered the party, tall and intimidating. There are four men with her and Finn can't hear what they're shouting, but they spread out to opposite sides of the hall, blasters drawn.

Guests are still running for exits and taking cover under tables and behind chairs. Connix, Jessika, and Rose all have their own blasters trained on the second level where the first shots rained down from. He wants to be everywhere at once – helping Rey track down the assassin, standing guard with his old friends, helping guests find shelter, keeping watch over Poe. It's hard to focus as he slides one arm under Zorii's knees and the other under her shoulders.

But she's light – Finn lifts her easily, nearly crashing into Jannah as she rushes to his side, supporting Zorii's limp neck.

“Did she get hit?!” Jannah shouts over the chaos, directly in his ear. She cups Zorii's face with her palm, running a thumb along her cheekbone. “What happened?”

“Just the shoulder. She's going to be okay. She passed out from the pain.”

Another shot echoes through the hall and the chorus of screams rises up again. Finn drops to his knees and Jannah falls with him, crouched over Zorii.

“You need to get Poe out of here,” Jannah yells, pulling Zorii away and looping Zorii's good arm around her shoulders, supporting her weight. “I'll take Zorii. We should separate them.”

Finn doesn't need to be told twice. She has the right idea – it'll be safer this way for both of them. He scrambles up and makes his way over to where Poe is climbing to his feet, dazed and unsteady. Finn grabs his hand.

“Come on,” Finn says, trying to pull him toward the exit. Poe stands firm, doesn't budge. “We have to go!”

“No,” Poe yells back, trying to pull away. There's blood dripping down his face from a gnarly gash along his hairline. “We have to stay and help. Find me a blaster!”

Finn only holds onto him tighter. “Poe. Someone is trying to kill you. They already shot Zorii!”

Poe freezes, eyes growing wide. “Where is she? Is she okay?”

“She's going to be fine. Jannah got her out. Let's go!”

“I can't leave them-”

“Poe! Rey will take care of it. Please.”

Poe sets his jaw and nods. Finn claps his shoulder, hopes it's reassuring, and pulls him through the crowd of guests and outside into the cool night air.

* * *

Poe's house isn't Finn's first choice – it makes him an easy target, and even though Finn is almost certain the assassain has acted alone, he's still nervous about stashing Poe away anywhere too obvious. But his home – which is more of a condominium – is close to the opera house, and Poe wants his blaster.

“I've never felt this helpless,” Poe says when they're safe inside, doors locked and curtains drawn. He's pacing in front of the sofa, wringing his hands.

“It wasn't your fault,” Finn says from the kitchen table, his own weapon across his lap.

“I didn't think I needed to be armed at my own engagement party!” Poe says, falling heavily onto the edge of the sofa and dropping his head in his hands. “Am I an idiot?”

Finn sets his blaster on the table and moves over to join him. “No. You had security there. Why would you need to be armed?”

“I've never relied on anyone else to protect me.” Poe looks up at him now, brown eyes soft and vulnerable. “Maybe you're the one who made the right choice in all of this, Finn.”

“Hey,” Finn says, moving closer to him, bumping their knees together. “You said it yourself. This is where the Resistance – the _Republic_ – needs you. Leading.”

“Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I've been wrong this whole time. Finn, I never should have-”

“ _Hey.”_ Finn puts his hands on either side of his face, keeping his eyes fixed on Poe's. “Listen to me. None of this is your fault.”

“But Zorii-”

“Is going to be fine,” Finn says. “You were there when we got the transmission. Jannah said she's already awake.”

Poe breathes out through his nose and takes a moment, eyes fluttering shut. “And nothing from Rey yet?”

“Nothing from Rey,” Finn confirms. Poe sucks in his bottom lip and nods, leg moving up and down restlessly. Finn moves his hand to Poe's knee, stilling him. “I know you want to be out there. Helping. I do, too. But we have to wait.”

Poe nods again and ducks his head – that's when Finn sees the blood soaking through the fresh bandage on his forehead. He brushes Poe's hair away to get a better look.

“How bad does it hurt?”

“It probably looks a lot worse than it feels.”

“Here.” Finn pulls up the sticky edge, carefully peeling it off.

Poe startles, wincing under his touch. “Ow.”

“I'm sorry. Just let me...” He trails off, brushing his fingertips over the cut before pressing his whole palm against it.

Poe stills. “What are you...?”

About four months ago. He'd torn something in his ankle running the training course on Ajan Kloss. Rey had knelt by his side and pressed her hand flat on top of his boot.

An hour later, he was running again.

“I want to try something.” It takes a moment or two of focus, but he feels the cut start to close up, the skin stitching itself back together as the wet blood evaporates. When Finn pulls his hand back to look, there's not even a scratch.

Poe stares at him, lips parted, feeling along his hairline. “I didn't know you could do that.”

Finn laughs. He feels a little winded now. Tired. “I didn't know I could do that, either.”

Poe is still staring at him, a mix of amazement and something like...

Love.

Finn feels his chest tighten and realizes he still has one hand on Poe's knee and the other on the side of his face. He pulls away, a little too abruptly, a string of apologies spilling out.

“Finn,” Poe tilts his head, confused. “It's okay.”

“I'm – I'm going to try to contact Rey.”

Finn pushes himself off the couch and quickly retreats into the neighboring room. He presses his back against the wall and rubs his hands over his face, groaning.

He is so, completely, fucked.


End file.
